Zynga expands with acquisition of four mobile game companies

Zynga, maker of hit games such as FarmVille and Words With Friends, told Reuters on Wednesday that it has bought four mobile game companies in recent months.

The acquisitions include that of German company Gamedoctors last month, maker of the popular ZombieSmash game. It also bought Astro Ape Studios, located in New York, last August.

Closer to its own Californian headquarters, Zynga also acquired San Francisco-based Page44 Studios, maker of World of Goo, and HipLogic, also working out of San Francisco. The cost to Zynga for each of the buyouts was not disclosed.

While Zynga is currently the top maker of games for social networking site Facebook (it’s produced four of Facebook’s top five most used game applications), news of the recent takeovers indicates the company’s desire to increase its presence in the smartphone and tablet games market.

Zynga emerged on the gaming scene just over four years ago and has since enjoyed tremendous success in the world of social gaming, with 232 million active monthly users of its games and as many as 60 million daily active users. The company went public in December last year, though its share value is currently languishing below its launch price.

The company’s popular Words With Friends game hit the headlines twice recently, first when actor Alec Baldwin was thrown off a plane for refusing to stop playing it prior to take-off, and again when an Australian man claimed the game saved his life.

Developers showed up with a number of amazing games this year. Each capitalized on something unique but there's always one that outdoes them all. Here are our picks for the best video games of 2018 and game of the year.

If you want to play online multiplayer on Switch, you'll need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Here's what you need to know about Nintendo Switch Online, from price to features to the awesome library of NES games.

158 million PS2 consoles were sold worldwide during its lifecycle, making it the most successful video game console of all time. It was hard, but we narrowed down the PS2's vast library of games. Here are the best PS2 games of all time.

Kingdom Hearts III has been leaked, with several copies of the game out in the wild. The game's director, Tetsuya Nomura, responded to the situation, calling for help from gamers to stop spoilers from spreading online.

Sony's new DualShock 4 controller has become a fan favorite, and some people want to use it with a PC. Here's how to connect your DualShock 4 and start using it, either with an official adapter, or unofficial software.

Battle royale games like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds’ and Fortnite have become the biggest trend in video games. The genre is also pushing the envelope in streaming and eSports in a way that might hint at the future of the industry.

Those who participated in Google's technical test of Project Stream won't be able to access the service to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey after January 15, but they'll get to keep the game on PC anyway.

The latest raid in Destiny 2: Forsaken is Scourge of the Past, and a two-person team has already managed to complete it. The task took 15 hours of trial-and-error effort before the duo managed to take down the final boss.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System might be the greatest game console ever made, but what are the best titles for the system? Here are our picks for the best SNES games, including A Link to the Past and Chrono Trigger.